Search form

police brutality

Two controversial stories hit home on the Gulf last week: One, concerning the ill-advised but fated Keystone XL pipeline, which President Obama decided to greenlight the southern portion of, directly impacting the Gulf; and another concerning the troublesome trend of young, African-American males losing their lives after mostly trivial encounters with law enforcement officials, or those pretending to be.

Sometime around 5:30 a.m., on March 1, 2012, an off-duty policeman working for a private neighborhood security force stopped two young black men driving in a predominantly white neighborhood in New Orleans. The officer called for back up.

Political power has shifted to whites, but blacks have not given up their struggle for a voice -- and justice. Originally published on The Root. As this weekend’s storm has reminded us, hurricanes can be a threat to U.S. cities on the East Coast as well the Gulf. But the vast changes that have taken place in New Orleans since Katrina have had little to do with weather, and everything to do with political struggles.

This is an expanded version of a story originally published on The Loop21 Black news and opinion website. In New Orleans’ federal courthouse, five police officers are currently facing charges of killing unarmed Black civilians and conspiring for more than four years to cover-up their crime.

Did New Orleans Media Ignore Police Violence After Hurricane Katrina? Originally published in Truthout, Monday June 27th. Opening arguments begin today in what observers have called the most important trial New Orleans has seen in a generation.